


A Heart So True

by unacaritafeliz



Series: The very best (Pokémon AU) [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Pokemon AU, Pre-Relationship, Tell me if you liked it and I might write more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 18:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20698124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unacaritafeliz/pseuds/unacaritafeliz
Summary: "Drowzee?" calls a sleepy voice from behind him.Dex jumps and hits his head against the inside of the fridge. He turns around to see Nursey's tiny Drowzee in the doorway, staring at him intensely."Fuck, you scared me," Dex tells her, rubbing the sore spot on the top of his head. "What do you want?"Drowzee says her name five times, slowly and calmly. There's an astounding lack of inflection in her voice. Like her trainer, she makes absolutely no sense to Dex.[After being betrayed by his own Growlithe, Dex has a moment with Nursey's tiny baby Drowzee].





	A Heart So True

When Dex gets back to the Haus on a rainy Wednesday afternoon in September, he finds Nursey spread out on the disgusting green couch, fast asleep and snoring with his mouth hanging open unattractively, his baby Drowzee cradled in his arms and Growlithe curled up warmly in his lap like he belongs there.

Dex frowns at his Pokémon's sleeping form. It's the first time he'd left Growlithe alone in the Haus, there's no way he'd take Growlithe in the rain, and he'd been worrying all day about whether the Pokémon would be okay. Apparently he was worrying about nothing; Growlithe has no problem making friends, even when it involves betraying his trainer.

Dex kneels down beside the couch and runs his hands over the puff of hair on top of Growlithe's head. "Hey, Growlithe," he says, quietly so as not to wake Nursey. "Hi, buddy. I'm home."

Growlithe blinks his eyes open. He leans over to lick Dex's face exactly once before he closes them again. He murmurs his own name sleepily, in what is clearly meant to be a dismissal.

"Let's go down to our room," Dex says, moving his hand to scratch under Growlithe's chin.

Growlithe opens a single eye and glares at Dex. Growlithe hates the basement.

Dex huffs. He can't go down to the basement alone, because the basement is so cold that it's only really inhabitable in the constant presence of a fire type. Part of him yearns to just pick Growlithe up and carry him downstairs anyway, but he knows Growlithe would burn him before he even got close enough to touch him.

Growlithe's become ferociously independent in the years since Dex has been at Samwell.

"Fine, whatever," Dex tells him, rolling to his feet. "I'm going to get a snack. Stay with him for all I care."

Growlithe doesn't even respond; he just shuts his eyes and shifts to get more comfortable against Nursey's thighs. Dex frowns as he walks to the kitchen. He's probably more upset than he should be. It's just... the entire team is kind of mad at him for moving into the basement and Dex can deal with that but Growlithe has been Dex's best friend since he was five years old. He's supposed to take Dex's side.

Dex opens the door to the fridge a little more aggressively than he needs to and peers inside. There's a single, pristine slice of rhubarb pie sitting untouched at the back of the middle shelf and Dex grins in triumph. Nursey's stolen his room, his friends and his Pokémon; Dex deserves the last slice of Nursey's favourite pie.

"Drowzee?" calls a sleepy voice from behind him.

Dex jumps and hits his head against the inside of the fridge. He turns around to see Nursey's tiny Drowzee in the doorway, staring at him intensely.

"Fuck, you scared me," Dex tells her, rubbing the sore spot on the top of his head. "What do you want?"

Drowzee says her name five times, slowly and calmly. There's an astounding lack of inflection in her voice. Like her trainer, she makes absolutely no sense to Dex.

"I don't understand what you're saying," Dex says. He pulls the pie out of the fridge and grabs himself a fork out of the top drawer. "If you want something, go wake Nursey."

As Dex takes his first bite of pie, Drowzee toddles towards him. She reminds him of Siobhan, when she was first learning to walk. Drowzee points at the pie with one of her chubby hands.

"Drowzee," she says.

Dex looks from her to the pie and back at her. She's hungry, he realises. She's hungry and she wants his pie. Nursey, in his perpetual state of selfishness and forgetfulness, must forgotten to feed her

"This is mine," Dex tells her. "Go ask Nursey if you're hungry."

"Drowzee!" she says. It's hard to tell, but Dex swears it sounds more insistent this time.

"No," Dex says, shoveling another piece of pie into his mouth for emphasis.

"Drowzee," she says.

This time it kind of just sounds sad. Dex thinks Drowzee might be crying. He's suddenly overcome with shame. This is why Growlithe hates him now; he's literally arguing over a slice of pie with a tiny baby.

And he's made her cry.

"Okay, fine," he says. He sets the remainder of the pie down on the kitchen table and scoops Drowzee up to place her next to it. "Just don't cry, okay?"  
  
"Drowzee!" she says. Her face seems to light up. She tilts forward and falls nose-first into the pie.

Dex snorts as he falls into the seat closest to her. Drowzee, like Nursey, is an absolute verified disaster. It's kind of cute though, the way she's calmly spooning food into her mouth with her nose. Dex has always thought Drowzees were ugly, and they've creeped him out since he was a child, but he doesn't really mind this one. Maybe it's just because she's so tiny.

Plus, she's not terrible to hang out with. She's on a level of chill Nursey could never even dream of achieving.

He reaches out to pat along the top of her head. She drawls her name as she leans into his hand. It's kind of adorable, if Dex is being honest.

Suddenly it occurs to him that Drowzee might be the reason Nursey was so keen to live in the Haus this semester. Sure, Nursey might be able to afford an apartment off campus, but there were very few landlords that allowed Pokémon in. And besides, if they lived off campus, Nursey would have to take Drowzee everywhere with him; in the Haus, he could always get Bitty or Chowder to watch her if he needed to. Maybe Nursey needed the room at the Haus for the exact same reasons Dex did.

He suddenly feels like an asshole for having a meltdown during the Dib Flip.

"Yo, Drowzee?" Nursey calls from the living room. His voice is faint, but Dex can still hear the barely concealed panic in it. "Drowzee, where are you?"

"Kitchen," Dex calls back, stroking absently along Drowzee's ear.

Less than a second later, Nursey runs into the kitchen; sleep rumpled and soft, with Growlithe at his heels. He stops wide-eyed in the doorway, looking at the way Dex is still stroking his Drowzee. Dex drops his hand as if she'd caught fire and pats his legs for Growlithe who jumps up onto his lap. It seems like he's forgiven Dex a little. Maybe Dex and Growlithe are both the jealous type.

"Promise I didn't kidnap her," Dex says, stroking Growlithe's fur.

"Drowzee, baby, you can't just go off on your own," says Nursey, softly, stroking his fingers across her head. Dex has never heard him be that soft before. "We talked about this."

"She probably didn't want to wake you," says Dex. "She was hungry."

"Drowzee, you always gotta wake me up, no matter what," Nursey tells her. He peers at her food and raises an eyebrow. "Was that the last piece of rhubarb pie?"

Nursey sounds kind of upset about that. Dex suddenly can't remember a single reason why he decided to finish the last slice of Nursey's favourite pie that Nursey had probably been excited to eat after his nap.

"She insisted," Dex says, apologetically.

Nursey sighs. "That's chill," he says. . "As long as she enjoyed it."

Nursey leans down to kiss the top of Drowzee's head before he picks up the clean pie plate and carries it over to the Haus dishwasher. Dex hates to admit it, but it's kind of sweet, the way Nursey is with baby Drowzee. He has the fleeting and intrusive thought that it would be nice if Nursey treated everyone as softly as he treated his Pokémon.

But then again, the same could be said for Dex.

"Well, we're gonna go do some homework," Nursey says. He ruffles the top of Growlithe's head affectionately. "See you later guys, later."

Nursey scoops Drowzee into his arms and carries her from the room. From over Nursey's shoulder, Drowzee waves her goodbye to Dex. He waves back at her, before looking down at Growlithe.

"Basement?" Dex asks him.

Growlithe rolls his eyes and jumps off Dex's lap. He runs out of the kitchen.

Helplessly, Dex follows.

**Author's Note:**

> You may think this fic is about Dex, but it's really about baby Drowzee; the real MVP and the best character I've ever written.
> 
> Obviously inspired by [this adorable artwork of the Andover Boys with their Pokémon](https://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com/post/150615368347) that Ngozi drew approximately 84 years ago. Also inspired by comic 4x08 because I'm still not over it apparently.


End file.
